The Romans Road
A Potential Problem in the the Road to Salvation
We have hope and faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
But sometimes I struggle with this whole, “Who goes to heaven and who goes to hell?” sort of thing. Like, is hell eternal punishment? After a few short years of life on earth, God, a loving and good God, would send his children to eternal punishment? That sounds… harsh. The Krystal Wife tells me constantly, “It’s like in Narnia, at the end when Aslan is calling EVERYONE to him, but the evil creatures don’t hear a sweet voice calling their name. They hear an annoying buzzing that they can’t get rid of. Because they never knew Aslan and never acknowledged him as their King and Lord and Savior.”
Ok, that’s a good response. But I still struggle with people in other scenarios, like what about people with severe, I mean SEVERE, cases of mental disorders that they are born with, that leads them to do unspeakable acts on another human? What if they reformed their life? How did they have a chance to show it?
Ah, now I am asking the wrong question. But I have found peace with all this through my recent study in Romans and rediscovery of “The Romans Road to Salvation.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
I’ve heard of the “Romans Road to Salvation” pretty much all my life, but I am not sure I ever understood it properly, maybe I still don’t.
The Road goes like this: 1) Problem: Sin, 2) Consequence: Death, 3) Solution: Christ’s Sacrifice, 4) Response: Confession, “Christ is Lord”, 5) Assurance: Being Saved.
Each of this steps is backed up by a verse from Paul’s Letter to the Romans. My Bible lays it out like this:
Problem
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Consequence
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Solution
But God proves his own love for us in tha twhile we were still dinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Response
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
Assurance
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13
Reading this is super comforting.
Except, something comes to mind. Something Jesus said about that last step there. Oh yeah, Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Now I have a contradiction within just a few pages of the Bible. Jesus clearly says not all who call on his name are saved. Romans says all who call will be saved. So which is it? And this right here is what concerns me about cherry-picking Bible verses, and this is what agnostics and secularists do all the time. They don’t read the full context, they find one “AHA!” verse and use that against people. And I partially wish my Bible hadn’t laid out the Romans Road they way they did, because Romans 10 has one more thing to say, just a few verses up:
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9, emphasis mine.
When I read this, I felt an immense pressure lifted from my inner being. It is comforting to be reminded of this saving grace. We can get into the apologetics another time. But, in my opinion, the evidence is clear that John 3:16 is true. And our lives are temporary, our bodies a temporary physical vessel. At the end, we have hope.
I tend to think of that verse from Matthew seven is talking about false teachers and pastors who talk a good talk, but don’t walk a good walk. I think even right now we’re in a season where bringing those people and their actions to light in order that the church can have clarity about who is a preacher worth listening to.
Yes, and a tree will be known by its fruit. Don’t confuse many followers with good fruit.